Even though eating habits have been improved especially a calcium intake of Japanese people is less than a nutritional requirement, and the improvement in its point has been in demand. However, in average eating habits of Japanese people, it is actually quite difficult to ingest a satisfactory amount of calcium.
Calcium has physiological functions of maintenance and adjustment of membranes, control of contraction secretion or excitation process, support of the stomach and the like, and it is one of Minerals indispensable in the human body, and quite important as is generally known. For an woman after childbirth delivery (after confinement), the calcium concentration in blood is decreased, and a tendency of further decreasing a calcium concentration in milk or a lactation amount is observed in a woman during nursing. In addition to the decrease in calcium concentration of mother's milk hypocalcemia or the like occurs in the mother body itself to injure the health of the mother body. To cope with these problems a calcium agent or vitamin D has been administered, but satisfactory results have not yet been provided.
In mammals such as a cow, the problems on calcium are similar to the foregoing problems in humans. Calcium to be fed to milk of a cow being a mammal is calcium in blood, and migrates from calcium in a feed or from body tissues such as bones. The calcium concentration in blood of a cow which is typical of mammals is usually from 9 to 11 mg/dl. When calcium is supplied in excess, absorption from intestines is decreased, and an excretion amount in feces and urine is increased. Consequently, although calcium in milk is influenced by the type of the cow or milk ingredients, it is maintained approximately in a prescribed amount.
In a cow, the calcium concentration in blood is decreased at a perinatal period before and after calving to show a pathogenic state of hypocalcemia. In hypocalcemia, the calcium concentration in blood is less than 7 mg/dl. When it is less than 5 mg/dl, ananastasia occurs, and a cow is dead in a serious case. It is called milk fever, and approximately 6% of cows are attacked by this disease in the U. S. It is liable to be complicated by mastitis (coliform), displaced abomasum, retained placenta and a metabolic disease such as ketosis. Further, subclinical hypocalcemia which does not lead to occurrence of clinical symptoms takes place in 66% of multiparous cows, and cows immediately after calving are led to inappetence and are susceptible to diseases such as ketosis, retained placenta, displaced abomasum and mastitis. When hypocalcemia continues for a long period of time, the calcium concentration of milk itself might be decreased.
In the cow, the calcium balance is drastically changed from calving by the start-up of lactation. That is, a large amount of calcium is secreted in foremilk by the start-up of lactation, whereas the calcium concentration in blood is decreased. When it is notably decreased, the cow is seized with ananastasia.
As a method of improving hypocalcemia of a cow, application of vitamin D or intravenous administration of a calcium agent to a cow with milk fever has been generally conducted. However, cases in which recovery or maintenance of the calcium concentration in blood is difficult have been known. Lactation ability has been currently increased by genetic modification. Thus, a lactation yield after calving is high. These matters lead to an increase in number of cows with hypocalcemia, induce serious conditions such as ananastasia, and give an adverse effect. It has been required to conquer the calcipenia in cows.
As a management of preventing calcipenia, it has been recommended to restrict calcium and phosphorus in a feed at a dry period (a period without milking from the stop of milking at one lactation period to the date of next delivery). However, it is really impossible to prepare a feed whose calcium concentration is as low as less than 50 g per day. Accordingly, for those skilled in the art, it is now impossible to prevent calcipenia by applying this management to the actual dairy farming.
Further, it is well known that diuretic activity is important for maintaining the health or alleviating diseases in humans. This point is also the same with animals. For example, the diuretic effect is quire important for maintaining the health and alleviating diseases in mammals (ruminants) such as a cow. Specially in a cow before and after calving, udder edema occurs. In a serious case, the nipple is liable to injure and mastitis tends to concur. The mammary suspensory ligament becomes weak, and milking is difficult due to pendulous udder. For therapy of the udder edema the improvement in a control method such as exercise or massage therapy with a diuretic agents surgical operation and the like have been known. However, satisfactory effects have not yet been brought forth.
Meanwhile, as difructose anhydride (DFA) which is an oligosaccharide made of two molecules of fructose coupled together difructose anhydride I (DFA I), difructose anhydride II (DFA II) difructose anhydride III (DFA IIII), difructose anhydride IV (DFA IV) and difructose anhydride V (DFA V) have been known, and structural formulas thereof are as follows.

Regarding DFA III and DFA IV, a calcium absorption accelerating composition containing DFA III as an active ingredient and a calcium absorption accelerating composition containing DFA IV as an active ingredient have been already disclosed respectively (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). However, the documents do not describe that these compositions are effective for prevention or therapy of calcipenia or edema of mammals. In particular, physiological activity of DFA on ruminants having four stomachs, especially cows has been entirely unknown. Needless to say, it is not indicated at all that DFA is not degraded in these stomachs and is effective for prevention and/or therapy of calcipenia on calcium in blood or calcium in milk and edema and for diuresis.
Moreover, it is entirely unknown that hypocalcemia after delivery is prevented and/or treated by administering DFA before delivery. Thus this is quite a new knowledge to humans and other mammals.
Patent Document 1
    Gazette of Japanese Patent No. 3514955Patent Document 2    Gazette of JP-A-2000-204042